SCHEMMEL TIMELINE

Events leading to Jeff Schemmel’s resignation as SDSU’s athletic director:

Jan. 5, 2009: Carolyn Lineberger files for divorce from her husband, John David Lineberger, in Baldwin County, Ala.

Jan. 16: After attending the NCAA Convention in Washington D.C., Schemmel flies from Washington to Atlanta, his travel records show, and rents a car for two days. A hotel receipt shows that he paid for a three-night stay in Point Clear, Ala., where, Carolyn Lineberger later testified in a deposition, they stayed together. She testified that Schemmel had no university business there.

Jan. 18: Schemmel returns the rental car after putting 666 miles on it (round-trip distance to Point Clear from Atlanta is about 660 miles), records show. He heads back to San Diego that morning.

Feb. 4: Schemmel signs a request for expense reimbursement from the university for his change-of-flight plan ($331), rental car ($102) and gas ($20).

August: John David Lineberger tries to subpoena Schemmel’s travel records from SDSU. Lineberger’s attorney said SDSU replied that the subpoena wasn’t properly served, but didn’t inquire about its purpose.

Nov. 7: The Union-Tribune reports on Carolyn Lineberger’s deposition testimony and her husband’s attempt to serve a subpoena. John David Lineberger this time had tried to properly execute the subpoena through San Diego Superior Court. SDSU says it will review the allegations.

Nov. 9: A California State University attorney asks John David Lineberger’s attorney for a copy of Carolyn Lineberger’s deposition transcript.

Nov. 13: SDSU says Schemmel is on administrative leave.

Nov. 19: SDSU announces Schemmel’s resignation.

— BRENT SCHROTENBOER

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San Diego State University President Stephen Weber announced the resignation of Athletic Director Jeff Schemmel yesterday, saying Schemmel “disappointed the university” with actions that included the “improper use of state funds.”

Schemmel traveled to Alabama in January to have a tryst with a woman and didn’t have university business there, the woman testified under oath in a deposition this year.

Schemmel’s resignation came after an SDSU investigation determined that there were irregularities in his reimbursement requests.

Weber said a “pattern of judgments and actions” by Schemmel “ultimately put us in a place where Jeff could no longer fruitfully serve this university and department.”

Schemmel issued a statement yesterday through SDSU.

“My decision to resign was agonizing, and based solely on concern for my wife and my family and the continued public scrutiny of our private lives,” the statement said. His statement added that SDSU is “moving in a great direction” and “in excellent shape with very good people in place.” He declined to comment further.

Weber said Schemmel and the university have reached a settlement that will pay him $116,000 in a lump sum, plus forgiveness of a $20,000 payment for his home loan. In exchange, Schemmel forfeits the right to sue the university. Weber said none of the settlement money will come from state funds.

Schemmel had sought reimbursement from the university related to his January trip to Alabama. Weber said the total amount of “improper” expenses was about $460. Schemmel, who has been married 32 years, asked reimbursement for $331 for a flight change from Washington, D.C., to Atlanta, where he rented a car for $102 and drove 330 miles to Point Clear, Ala. Carolyn Lineberger testified in a deposition as part of her divorce proceedings that she met Schemmel at a hotel in Point Clear. Schemmel paid about $20 for gas on the way back to the Atlanta airport.

Weber said Schemmel paid back the reimbursements “immediately” after the university determined they were “an improper use of state funds.” Weber said Schemmel’s restitution happened “quite a while ago. I’m going to say weeks ago.”

Weber said the university became aware of the matter in August after Lineberger’s husband, John David Lineberger, tried to subpoena Schemmel’s travel records from SDSU. However, John David Lineberger’s attorney, Buddy Brackin, said the university didn’t question the subpoena or its purpose until after The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Nov. 7 on Carolyn Lineberger’s deposition. Before that, SDSU’s only response to the subpoena was to say it wasn’t properly served through a California court, Brackin said. John David Lineberger recently filed suit in San Diego Superior Court to properly execute the subpoena.

“If the university is saying they knew about this all along, why in the hell did they wait this long to do anything about it?” Brackin said yesterday.

Weber said the matter became more serious recently because important information wasn’t obtained by SDSU until last week, such as Carolyn Lineberger’s deposition transcript. After the Nov. 7 story in the Union-Tribune, Brackin said an attorney for the California State University System called to ask for a copy of the transcript. In her deposition, Carolyn Lineberger said under oath that she met Schemmel for trysts in Alabama and twice in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, in 2008.

Carolyn Lineberger filed for divorce Jan. 5. The deposition and subpoena attempt are part of those proceedings.

Carolyn Lineberger also testified that Schemmel told her he had no university business in Point Clear and was there to see her. It was the weekend of Jan. 16-18, after Schemmel changed his return flight from the NCAA Convention in Washington, D.C. Instead of flying as planned from Washington to San Diego on Jan. 17, Schemmel flew to Atlanta the evening of Jan. 16, and rented the car.

The reason he gave for going to Atlanta was to meet with Parker Executive Search, which SDSU paid $65,000 to help it find a new football coach last year. It’s not clear whether a meeting with Parker Executive Search took place. A hotel receipt shows Schemmel paid for three nights in Point Clear — Jan. 16, 17 and 18. He flew out of Atlanta the morning of Jan. 18.

Weber said there “were conflicting reports” concerning the alleged meeting planned in Atlanta. He declined to say what reasons Schemmel gave for the rental car and other transactions.

Schemmel earned $257,000 annually, and earlier this year had his contract extended through June 2013.

He was hired in July 2005 amid questions about his involvement in one of the biggest academic cheating scandals in college sports history. Schemmel was one of four University of Minnesota athletic officials who were told their contracts weren’t going to be renewed for reasons related to the scandal in 1999. Schemmel later was allowed to stay at the university to help it stage the 2001 men’s basketball Final Four.

Asked about this yesterday, Weber said SDSU “looked into that very carefully. We talked with the people at Minnesota who knew about it. I thought we understood the circumstances there pretty well, and I still think that’s the case.”

Weber said he did not ask for Schemmel’s resignation.

If Schemmel hadn’t resigned, Weber said, “Then I would have had to make a decision. We were not there yet. We would have been there very shortly, but we were not there.”

SDSU hopes to find a replacement for Schemmel by March 1.

“The tragedy of this situation — and it is tragic on a personal level and on an institutional level — is that his ability to serve the university was compromised,” Weber said. “I think Jeff reached that conclusion himself.”